Silent Hill is experiencing something of a creative renaissance. After years of dormancy, Konami has opened the franchise to outside developers, letting studios like Bloober Team remake classics and original creators like Ryukishi07 craft entirely new stories rooted in the series' DNA. The results have been mixed, sure, but the willingness to experiment has produced some genuinely strong work. Now comes Silent Hill: Townfall, the latest entry to suggest the franchise's best days may still be ahead.
Screen Burn, the Scottish studio formerly known as No Code, has built Townfall around a carefully measured brand of first-person horror. Set in the abandoned port town of St. Amelia in 1996, the game follows Simon Ordell as he navigates fog-choked streets in search of answers about why the town has been emptied out. The narrative hook is deliberately vague, a trademark of Silent Hill games, but the environmental storytelling and clues scattered throughout suggest something dark happened involving the town's residents and possibly a corporate or governmental force.
What sets Townfall apart mechanically is the CRTV, a handheld device that doubles as both radio and screen. Simon uses it to tune into signals, locate enemies through walls, solve puzzles, and navigate the town. Rather than a simple scan button or HUD marker, the CRTV requires deliberate aiming and close attention to a small screen that displays ultrasound-like feedback. It's a clever way to keep players grounded in the game world while building tension. Finding the right building or doorway becomes a puzzle unto itself when you're relying on static images transmitted through an in-game device.
Combat exists but serves as a trap to avoid. Director Jon McKellan, who previously worked on Alien Isolation, has shaped Townfall around stealth mechanics. Simon's weapons are few and crude, including a barbed wire wrapped plank. Getting caught by the town's grotesquely transformed inhabitants is a dangerous proposition, so the game rewards careful movement and evasion. The demo showed players timing dashes between enemy patrols, using the CRTV to track movement patterns before making their move.
Exploration makes up the other half of the experience. Within St. Amelia's houses and offices, Simon pieces together the mystery through notes, computer files, drawers, and answering machines. A nurse named Zoe Ellis reaches out to Simon through the CRTV, pulling him deeper into the conspiracy. When stuck, Simon experiences thought bubbles that hint at solutions rather than offering direct guidance or self-directed hints. It's a subtle way to nudge players without breaking immersion.
Screen Burn is drawing inspiration from its native Scottish coastal landscape alongside its own previous work in horror-tinged narrative games. The result feels distinctly Silent Hill while maintaining a slower, more atmospheric pace than recent action-focused horror titles. The team has kept many of the game's scarier elements and trickier puzzles hidden from preview builds, though previous trailers hinted at surreal red skies that will presumably signal a shift in tone.
Silent Hill: Townfall launches September 24 on PlayStation 5 and PC. The revitalization of this franchise has had its missteps, but Townfall appears to be another strong example of what happens when talented studios get genuine creative freedom to explore what Silent Hill means in their own hands.
Author Emily Chen: "This is exactly the kind of smart, deliberate horror design that made Silent Hill matter in the first place, and Screen Burn seems to understand that atmosphere beats spectacle every single time."
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